Mine loading machinery.



F. BILLINGS. v MINE LOADING MACHINERY.

APPLICATION FILED MAY 1. 1911.

Patented May 80, 1916.

4 SHEETSSHEET I.

F. BILLINGS.

MINE LOADING MACHINERY. APPLICATION FILED MAY h 191] V Patented May 30, 1916.

4 SHEETS-SHEET 2- OOOOOOIO OOOOOG In ueniar THE COLUMBIA PLANOGRAPH CO., WASHINGTON, 0. c-

F. BILLINGS.

MINE LOADING MACHINERY.

APPLICATION FILED MAY 1. 1911.

Patented May 30, 1916.

4 SHEETS-SHEET 3.

THE COLUMBIA PLANOGRAPH c0 WASHINGTON, D. c

F. BILLINGS.

MINE LOADING MACHINERY.

APPLICATION men MAY 1, 1911.

Patented. May 30, 1916.

4 SHEETSSHEET 4.

amen.

FRANK BILLINGS, OF CLEVELAND, OHIO.

MINE LOADING- MACHINERY.

Application filed May 1, 1911.

To all whom it may concern Be it known that I, FRANK BILLINGS, a citizen of the United States, residing at Cleveland, in the county of Cuyahoga and State of Ohio, have invented a certain new and useful Improvement in Mine Loading Machinery, of which the following is a full, clear, and exact description.

This invention relates to improvements in the kind of machines which are especially adapted for use in mines to expeditiously and economically load onto the mine cars the mineral or coal which is broken on the working faces of mine tunnels. The mine tunnels are small in cross sectional dimensions; and-such machines, to be of practical service, must be relatively large,-so large, in fact, that there can be very little space left between the machine and the side walls and roof of the tunnel. This necessitates that the broken off material shall be carried through the machine itself from the front end thereof, which is close to the working face of the tunnel, to the rear end thereof, where, of necessity, the mine cars must be. Belt conveyers have been used for this purpose. In fact, in my prior application, Serial No. 602,176, filed January 12, 1911, a machine of this sort is shown, provided with a belt conveyer. There are, however, certain disadvantages attending the use of belt conveyers in machines of this sort; and the present invention is the outcome of elforts made to provide a substitute for a belt conveyer in a machine of this sort.

The invention includes a skip, and tracks carried by the frame work of the machine and arranged to guide the skip from the front end of the machine, where it is beneath a loading apron, rearward and upward to'a suitably elevated position and, to tip the skip so as todump its contents into amine car, or whatever else may be provided to receive it. v

The invention resides in the construction of the skip and its operating mechanism, and the disposition of the cooperating tracks,

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented May 3Q, 1916.

Serial No. 624,406.

. In the drawing, Figure 1 is a plan view of so much of the machine as includes the present invention. Fig. 2 is a side elevation of so much of the machine as is shown in Fig. 1. Fig. 3 is a plan View of the skip. Fig. 4 is an enlarged side elevation of the front end of the machine, or rather of so much thereof as is involved in this invention. Fig. 5 is an enlarged side elevation of the rear end of so much of the machine as is involved in this. invention. Fig. 6 is a side elevation of the far side of the rear end of the machine. Figs. 7, 8 and 9 are respectively vertical sectional views from the rear on lines 7, 8 and 9 on Figs. 4 and 5.

The framework of the machine is supported by wheels C, C, adapted to run on the mine tracks; and this frame includes two main side beams A, A, and several cross beams a, a. Four uprights F, F, rising from the side beams A, A support a platform 7 which is provided for supporting a hoe and its operating mechanism substantially as is shown and described in my prior application hereinbefore referred to. It has not been thought necessary to show the hoe and its operating mechanism, because that is no part of the present invention. Fig. 4:, however, is a representation of the hoe in dotted lines in one of the positions which it may assume.

At the front end of the machine is an apron E which extends from one side beam to the other, being inclined from its front end upward, and being at its rear end supported by two standards 6 fixed to the two side beams A, A.

Near the rear end of the machine are two standards H, H, which support bearings 72., h, in which two transverse shafts J and K are respectively mounted. One of these shaftsJ is geared to an electric motor I suitably fixed to the framework; and the two shafts are geared together. A rope drum M is fixed to the shaft K. These standards H also serve as supports for the two upward and rearwardly inclined track supporting frame members N, N, which are fixed at their front ends to the side members A, A. Theirrear ends extend so as to overhang the side members A, A, a considerable distance, so that a mine car may pass beneath them or beneath the skip.

P, R and T are flange beams which serve as tracks for the skip D and its bail.

There are two tracks P, one fixed to the inner face of each frame member N and t the inner faces of the standards F; and, at

their front ends, to the inner faces of the side beams A. It is upon these tracks P that the four wheels d, d of the skip run for a greater part of its travel backward and for ward. Near the rear endof the machine, however, and just behind the standards H these tracks P which have, in front of these standards, a general downward inclination toward the front end of the machine, are extended in a substantially horizontal direction, as indicated by p, and then upward in a substantially vertical direction, as indicated by p, and then upward andrearward at aninclination as indicated by p At about the point where these tracks are bent rearwardly into the horizontal position 17 the front ends of thetracks R begin; and they, being fixed to the inner faces'of the 1 framemembers N, extend upwardly and rearwardly at an inclination. The track flanges of these track members, however, do not extend as far toward the center of the machine from the supporting members N as do the tracks P as shown most clearly in Fig. 9. 7 7

Referring now to Fig. 3 it will be noticed that the front wheels d of the skip are wider than are the rear wheels, and that they extend farther out from said skip. The width of this skip is such that all four wheels may 7 ride onthe tracks P until, as the skip is moving rearward,the front wheels thereof come to the point where the tracks R begin. These front wheels being wide enough to do so, will engage these tracks, while the tracks R, will travel along tracks P; and therefore as theskipcontinues its rearward travelits: front end 'willzbe lifted untilit finally assumes the'position shown in Fig. 5. The rear wheelsof the skip will have traveled along the horizontal part 77 of the tracks P until stopped byengaging with the vertical part 79' of said tracks.

Therear end of the skip is closed by a swinging door, said door being in the form of a plate d fixed tofour bars 03 two lo cated on each side of the skip and hinged ,theretoon alined pivots about midway between the front and rear ends thereof.

* These parts are so hinged that when the skip is at the rear end of the described tracks,

as shown in Fig. 5, some wheels 0Z pivoted to the rear endof these door frames and near the upper edges of thedoor, will have engaged with the inclined parts 70? of-the tracks P, whereby said door structure will have'been swung upward relative to the end of the sklp, thereby opening said rear end and permitting the contents of the skip to fall out. -When the skip is allowed to so move, gravity'w'ill cause it to move downward and forward toward the front of the machine. As it so moves the door will close and the parts assume the position shown in Fig. 4.

- A bail D having two side members 03 are pivoted to the sides of the skip, preferably on the same axles upon which the wheels are mounted. These bars which extend quite a little distance in front of the skip are connected at their front ends by cross bars cl; and wheels d are mounted on the front ends of this bail. These wheels are intended to run on the tracks T which are fixed to the inner face of the members A, the uprights F and the frame members N, but they do not project as far out from said parts as do the tracks P, and they are in a lower plane. A cable U is dead-ended to the top of this bail, and then extended forward around a segment (i fixed to the bail, and thence under the skip up to the winding drum M. The described arrangement of parts is such that the skip in moving forward and backward along the described tracks will pass beneath the platform f and will not therefore be interfered with by the machinery supported upon said platform.

The operation of the machine may be briefly summarized as follows: The whole machine operating on the wheels C is pushed upon the tracks into the mine tunnel and to 95 the head thereof, where the material to be loaded is being mined. This material is thrown or otherwise conveyed to the skip D, which, when the same is filled, is caused to move by setting the motor I in operation,

- which, through the gearing, causes the cable U to be wound upon the drum M. The cable exerts its pull upon the bail D causing the skip to move rearwardly along the tracks. When the skip reaches the rear portion of the loading machine, the wheels al follow the track P, while the wheels (1 follow the main track and are elevated relative to the wheels d Therefore the skip is tipped and the gate or door for the skip is also caused to operate by the engagement of the wheels (1 with the'track 79 The wheels a? which are at the forward end of the bail will engage with the track T at the time of the dumping of the bucket. When the bucket is dumped the pull on the cable U is released, and by its own gravity the skip D starts to descend the track and eventually occupies the position it originally had, as shown in Fig. 2.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim is:

1. In a loading machine, the combination with a frame adapted to be guided upon a track, said frame being provided with tracks which extend rearwardly and upwardly from the forward end of the machine, a skip adapted to be guided along said tracks and provided at its rear end with a door, said tracks at their rear upper ends having portions which tilt the skip by raising the forward end thereof to a greater elevation than the rear end, and which open said door when the skip is being tilted.

2. In a loading machine, the combination with a frame adapted to be guided upon a track, said frame being provided with tracks extending rearwardly and upwardly from the forward end of the machine, and near the upper rear end of the machine having a branch section which is at a greater elevation than another section, and a skip provided with front and rear wheels which engage said tracks and having at its rear end a pivoted door, the said branch section be ing arranged so as to receive only the forward wheels of the skip when the latter is near the end of its movement so as to tilt the skip, and said track having a section which causes said door to be opened during a tilting movement of the skip.

3. In a loading machine, the combination with a frame adapted to be guided upon a track, said frame being provided with a track which extends upwardly and rearwardly from the forward end of the machine, said track comprising a main portion which near the rear end of the machine is provided with a horizontal section, and an upwardly inclined section beyond said horizontal section, said tracks having adjacent said horizontal section a branch section which extends at an inclination and to a greater elevation than said horizontal section, a skip provided with front and rear wheels which engage said tracks and provided at its rear end with a pivoted door, the front wheels of the skip extending laterally outward farther than the rear wheels, and said branch section of the track being of such a gage that near the end of the rearward movement of the skip, the horizontal section receives the rear wheels, while the branch section receives the forward wheels, whereby the skip is tilted, and said inclined section engaging the door so as to open the same when the skip is being tilted.

4. In a loading machine, trucks supporting a main frame, and track supporting members extending upwardly from said frame, elevating means at the forward end of the machine, tracks extending from beneath said elevating means rearwardly and upwardly, a skip having wheels which engage said tracks and provided with a pivoted door, said tracks being arranged and constructed at their rear ends so as to elevate the forward end of the skip with respect to the rear end and thereby tilt the skip, and to simultaneously open the door of the skip, and means for operating said skip.

In testimony whereof, I hereunto aflix my signature in the presence of two witnesses.

FRANK BILLINGS.

Witnesses:

H. R. SULLIVAN, A. F. KwIs.

Copies of thile patent may be obtained for five cente each, by addressing the flommissioner or Ratenta,

erbium, D. 0." 

